Lost Time
by LOSTnDomsEyes
Summary: AU Castaways get rescued. Charlie and Claire move to Australia. About a month after their rescue Claire leaves with Aaron. Story takes place 10 years later when Claire knocks on the same door she left so many years before.


Hey guys! New fic because I'm bored. Charlie and Claire as always. I don't think I'm gonna make a tragedy this time. First chapters G Later chapters may increase with Adult material. Please Review if you read. Constructive Critism is ALWAYS welcomed. Thanks in advance and enjoy.

LOST TIME

Ten years. It had been ten years and one month since the day a boat appeared on the shore of our island. I say our island because after living there for half a decade I believe me and the other survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 should be allowed rightful ownership. I also said ten years by itself because although it may have been ten years and one month since we were rescued, its been ten years exactly since I stopped living. Not literally. Its been ten years since my one true love walked out of my life. I can't explain why, because I don't really know myself. But knowing the time span since I last saw Claire Littleton, you can imagine how shocked I was when she appeared at my door just last week. Bollocks…this description is a lot harder than I thought it would be. So let's change things up a bit and take the easy route. How bout I show you what happened instead of telling you. Well I can't literally show you, but you can use your imagination, right? Well you have no say in the matter so I don't know why I'm asking you in the first place. With that…let's begin.

Charlie lay on his back on the couch staring at the ceiling. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. He had moved to Australia after the rescue, and had remained there ever since. He didn't know why he hadn't moved to L.A. like he had planned, but if he had maybe his life wouldn't be so miserable. He supposed he had changed his living arrangements so that he could be near his brother, and because after the crash the band just didn't seem to matter anymore. That was why he was going to L.A. in the first place, right? To start the band back. But becoming a father changes a man. Charlie sure missed Aaron. He wondered if he remembered him, or if Claire ever talked about him. He had to be nearly 15 now. Charlie was knocked out of his trance by a knock at the door. He stood up, grumbling the whole time.

"I told you Liam, I'm just not up to any more blind dates" He said loudly as he walked toward the door. "I just don't think there's any girl…" He swung the door open, and stopped mid sentence at the site of her.

She smiled awkwardly as he continued to stare. "Hey Charlie…can I come in?"

He continued to stare absent mindedly for a few moments before snapping out of his trance. "Claire?…Uh, yeah…Come right in"

She smiled sweetly as she walked into the house. "How have you been?" She asked while looking around the living room.

"Uh…do you mean recently or over the last decade?" He said with a small chuckle as he shut the front door.

She let out a small laugh as well as she answered. "Well I meant recently, but"

"Good. I've been doing good. How bout yourself. Do you want me to take your purse? Oh, I have tea. You want some tea?"

Claire let out another small laugh. "I see you haven't lost your rambling skills"

Charlie's cheeks turned bright red at her comment. "Sorry"

"It's okay…it's still cute"

"Yeah, well…Do you want to sit down?" He said quickly changing the subject.

"Sure" She said with a small smile, walking toward the couch Charlie was motioning to and taking a seat. He followed and sat down on the opposite end.

Claire noticed that Charlie was shying away from her. Which was understandable. He didn't know anything about her. He didn't know if she had a husband or a family.

"You know you could sit closer. I don't bite" Claire said with a small laugh.

Charlie's cheeks once again turned bright red. "Sorry" He said as he slid to the middle of the couch.

"Claire?" Charlie said after a moment of awkward silence. "What are you doing here?"

"Can't an old friend stop by once in awhile?" She said with a smile.

Charlie didn't smile or laugh at her joke, instead he stared into her eyes looking for an answer to his question. "An _old friend_ once told me that I always made a joke when I didn't want to answer a question. She said she wanted me to be serious."

Claire looked into Charlie's eyes for a moment. She had never seen him really serious before. He wasn't angry or upset. He was just truly serious. Charlie watched as she looked down at her ring finger. At the sight of her wedding ring, which she was nervously twirling around on her finger, he couldn't help but become a little more concerned. She was married. She had a family. What possible reason could she have to come to his home. After a good 3 minutes of her twirling the ring and Charlie waiting patiently, she finally looked back up at him.

"I'm sorry" She said with tears in her eyes as she broke down suddenly.

Charlie was so caught off guard by her sudden break down that before he could think he had rapped his arms around Claire pulling her tightly against his chest. He had been so accustomed to being her shoulder on the island, he didn't even think about his actions. He was surprised when she tightened her grip around him. He was half expecting to get slapped in the face.

"I'm sorry" She said again as she buried her now tear stained face into his should.

"Shhh…It's okay, love. Don't cry now."


End file.
